Russia's pass system to curb virus causes crowds

Russian social media users and news outlets reported crowds of people queuing at metro stations and traffic jamming up highways leading into Moscow on Wednesday morning after a new system of passes controlling the movement of people within Russia's capital was introduced to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Police officers were reported to be manually checking IDs and passes of each person driving into Moscow or entering the metro, prompting long queues.

The pass system in Moscow came into effect on Wednesday as the coronavirus outbreak in Russia continued to grow exponentially, with the number of cases doubling every five days.

On Wednesday, Russian authorities reported 3,388 new infections, which brought the country's total to 24,490. Moscow accounted for 14,776 of them.

Russia's capital has been in lockdown since late March, with residents ordered to stay home except to buy food and medicine, walk pets or go to jobs at essential workplaces.

In order to travel somewhere by car or on public transport, Muscovites need to apply for scannable QR-code passes online, listing their destination and purpose of travel.